Glue

When I was a kid I made projects at school with good ole Elmer's Glue.  It was thick and white and I, along with practically every other kid in the class, would overestimate how much I needed and squirt on way too much. It would squish out from the edges of my project and I would attempt to wipe the edges.  It would take hours to dry and sometimes I would have transport it home still damp with my abundant use of glue.  I would think to myself, "That's going to last forever!"  My Mom kept very few of those projects from my childhood but the ones she kept are falling apart.  The construction paper is faded and the glue has dried out so much that it no longer is doing its job of keeping things together and instead is peeling off the paper in large, thin sheets of dried up glue.  It's usefulness has passed, it no longer can hold together the project I thought would last forever.

Sometimes I feel like that glue. 

A few years ago a friend told me that I was like the glue that held our little community together.  She sincerely meant it as a compliment and at first I took it as such. But then I started to realize that it meant that unless I was the one initiating group get-together's, planning the food for them, planning the parties, making the phone calls, sending the texts, composing the emails, making sure that people stayed in the know about important life stuff with each other, and basically being a Mother Hen then our little community was going to fall apart like the years old project that the glue can't hold together anymore.

Then the glue dried up.

I entered into a season of depression. My inner glue dried up and there was nothing left to squeeze out of me.  I literally couldn't be the one to initiate and hold it all together.  And the little community didn't hold together.  The vibrant colors of our little family faded and the glue I had applied to keep us together peeled off in large sheets as we went our separate ways.  It didn't mean we didn't, or don't, love each other but what it meant was if I wasn't applying the glue then it wasn't holding together. I think this would have happened eventually even if I had more to give, but the process was sped up by the depression that took over me.

I'm not really glue even though I sometimes feel like it. 

I have a proven track record of not being able to hold things together "forever."  In fact, I can't think of one person who holds that distinction.  Oh wait, there is one. But just one. God holds it all together like super glue.  And super glue never dries out and becomes useless. Never.  The glue I produce and manufacture will always dry up and dry out, it won't hold something together "forever."  And if something, like my little community, doesn't hold together then that ultimately isn't on me, that is up to God. The timing of our season together was for him to decide and hold together, not me.  It felt like me and it may have even looked like it was me but it wasn't. He formed us and it was for purposes and reasons largely unknown to us but known to him.  Did we, as a little community, serve our purpose? I believe yes we did.  I believe we held together for as long as God needed us too in order to accomplish something only I believe he knows about.

Did you ever used to take glue and spread it in a thin layer over your hand, let it dry and then slowly peel it off?  You can see every line in your hand, fingerprints are captured, it is oddly fascinating. In order to see all the lines and capture the fingerprints it has to be spread thin. Spread so thin the glue becomes almost transparent but more opaque. I can make out the lines and the fingerprints but their clarity is blurred by the consistency of the glue.

I'm spread thin, almost translucent but more opaque. 

If I look closely I can see the lines of my life and of my heart through the glue I've spread over myself to try and hold it together.  But the lines are blurred and undefined, they run together and I wonder if my life line has been cut short. That doesn't mean what it may sound like, I'm not planning on cutting my life line short but some days the line feels shortened by life itself.  I spread the glue on to try and keep things together but when you spread it too thin it no longer has adhesive properties. I don't hold things together very well anymore.

The glue I have spread on is dry, now what? 

It may feel like life is cutting my line short but there is only one who knows the actual number of my days. And no matter how spread thin I feel he still sticks with me.  He cuts through the opaque of my heart and sees all the lines of my life and heart with startlingly clarity.  And then in his grace he shows me what he sees. Usually I don't see it until he peels the glue off that I have spread on me in the attempt to hold things together. And then what he sees I too am able to see.  But I can't see it all at once or I may implode. So he peels off the glue I have spread on little by little, in manageable pieces.  And what he shows me is freeing.

I'm not glue.  I don't have to feel responsible to hold it *all* together.
Thank goodness. 

Curves and Edges

Have you heard the song by John Legend called "All of me"? There is one line that makes me really pause and consider it's deeper meaning:

'Cause all of me

Loves all of you
Love your curves and all your edges
All your perfect imperfections
Give your all to me
I'll give my all to you

That line in the midst of the lines that surround it has me really thoughtful about relationships, specifically the marriage relationship.  I've got curves and edges and I'm not talking about my physical body. My moods have curves and edges, my behaviors have curves and edges, my feelings have curves and edges and my marriage is the one relationship where those curves and edges are probably the most seen and felt.  If my hub were honest (and he oftentimes is not when it comes to me which means I have to be more honest about myself than I prefer) he would say that in the past couple of years I've had more edges than curves.  I could give you a list of reasons and excuses and about 99% of them would be valid and make sense.  But that doesn't give me an excuse to live with my husband in edges and not curves. Some of the edges are my own fault, I need to own what I have contributed to.  And with the edges created by circumstances, conflicts, and misunderstandings I still don't have an excuse to be edgy with this man that I entered into covenant with so many years ago.

The amazing thing about my edges is that my hub chooses to love me in spite of them.  He treats edgy Beth the same way he treats curvy Beth.  Yet I remain edgy with him. I haven't allowed his curves to soften my edges.  Somehow in spite of my numerous edges and lack of curves, specifically with my hub, he is able to say that he loves my curves and all my edges. Clearly I have a lot more work to do in the true love department than he does.  

I've been pondering how to soften my edges and turn them into curves. I have a lot of work to do I think. Let me be a little more honest. I know, not think, I have a lot of work to do.  My Type A nature tends to despair when faced with work to do and I can't figure out how to get it done.  But in my 30's my Type A nature has been reined in during those moments by the truth of Philippians 1:6. I am a work in progress.  My hub married a work in progress and I married a work in progress when I said "I do" to him.  Then we had two redheads who are works in progress and none of us are complete yet.  The beautiful truth is that we are promised to not be left incomplete, the truth is that we will be finished according to the design of our Creator. Thank goodness! It's true that I can stall the work in progress when I won't allow my edges to be sanded down into curves.  But I've grown up enough to want the sanding to proceed.  I don't want to be edgy with my hub, I want to be curvy with him.  Grace is showing me the ways in which I need sanding, hope is showing me I can have more curves than edges, love is showing me that my hub's curves can soften my edges - if only I will allow it.

I don't know what John Legend's intended meaning for that line was but each time I hear it I am struck with the picture of my hub having to live with edgy Beth and not curvy Beth.  And while he loves me as is I am challenged to do the hard work of sanding so that my edges transform into curves and our marriage reflects the softer lines of covenant relationship. 

Sitting Shiva

In the past few months I've had two of my besties approach me and ask about how they can comfort someone who is grieving, what can they say, and what should they say.  It's a good question and one that deserves a thoughtful response.

Other people's grief makes us uncomfortable.  And in that insecurity we utter platitudes, quote phrases that mean nothing, we behave in ways that don't comfort the other person but instead place them in the position of having to ease us. Other people's grief certainly doesn't bring out the best in us...until we have experienced a deep enough grief ourselves. From that moment on we respond to other's grief differently.

My answer to my friends and to anyone who asks me (and people do from time to time), is simply this: Sit Shiva.  This usually brings a confused tone to the person's voice or a scratch on the head. Whatever does THAT mean? So before I talk about sitting Shiva let me give the briefest introduction to it. Shiva is a common practice among the Jewish people when someone has passed on.  It is the seven days following the person's death, including the day of the funeral. When someone sits Shiva with the person who is experiencing grief the role is simply this, sit with them in their grief and allow them to feel it and work through it. That's it.  It isn't sitting there saying things like, "Well heaven just gained another angel," or "It was his time to go," etc.  It isn't sitting there "one-upping" their grief with stories of your own. It isn't chattering non-stop about nonsense to distract them or yourself from the uncomfortable emotions of loss. It is letting them lead when they want to speak, eat, stand, sit, and sleep.  It is letting them lead when they feel the need to cry, yell, laugh and question.

And perhaps we need to also briefly define grief.  Grief is the emotion that expresses loss. Not only loss of life but loss on all levels of life.  Loss of physical life, loss of a relationship (marriage, friendship, child), loss of a dream, you get the idea. So while the Jewish people sit Shiva for loss of physical life what I am talking about is sitting Shiva for all kinds of loss that prompts grief in us. I am broadening the practice to include the varied griefs we are sure to encounter in life.

We are given an excellent example of how not to sit Shiva in the book of Job found in the Bible.  Job had lost everything but his wife and she was off in her own corner cursing God. So Job found himself sitting on top of dirt, tearing his clothes, and scraping his skin with broken pieces of pottery. People, this is grief and it isn't pretty.  I can't think of a time when grief is pretty. Job has three friends show up to sit Shiva with him. But once Shiva is officially done things go bad. Job speaks.  He didn't utter a word for seven days but then he speaks.  And once he's done his friends undo the Shiva they just sat with him.  The lesson here is to maintain the Shiva you sat and not undo it with your mouth or actions once the initial period of grief has eased.  To sit Shiva also means we continue to allow space and grace for the process of grief.  We don't take the other person's choice to open up as permission to unleash any doubts, anger, etc we might be feeling as well, especially when those things would be painful and condemning to the person grieving.  

When we experience loss we are open to shame, fear, insecurity, and doubt depending on the kind of loss we are walking through. To sit Shiva with someone means that we take up the battle against those things on behalf of the grieving person.  We pray against those things taking root, we pray for an empowering for that person to battle any of those.  We do this battle on their behalf silently, unless or until an occasion arises in which it becomes appropriate to include them. 

The very best comfort we can give is to sit Shiva completely available.  When we are concerned with saying something specific, questioning circumstances, talking to distract from the discomfort of grief, or any number of other ridiculous things we resort to when grief is evident then we are not available.  We might be physically present but we are emotionally absent.  To be a true comfort is to be totally available, totally set aside for the sake of the person in grief. Be available to listen and to listen without trying to "fix" the grief spiritually.  Do not try to remind them of God, plenty of other people will, with good but misguided intentions, be doing that. Be the person in their life who gives permission to feel angry, sad, doubtful of God, fearful and whatever else may rise to the surface during the grief process.  Be the person that gives them space and time to process it all.  Don't be the person who throws in the Christianese, the "textbook" scriptures (i.e. God has a plan for your life, Jeremiah 29:11).  Those things only serve to drive the pain deeper in the end. I have discovered that we often employ the Christianese and the "textbook" scriptures when the person's pain and grief makes us uncomfortable about faith and the true heart of God. But when we resort to those things for those reasons it ends up doing more damage than good.  In our culture we are trained to speak, to try and use words that heal and provide answers to any question, but in reality the greatest comfort can come, and does come, from silence and companionship and words being used thoughtfully and in the right time with the right motive. Let us not utter words that are birthed out of a discomfort toward God but out of sincerity.  This goes against what we've been taught all our lives but it is better for the grief-filled person and for the one who sits alongside of them. Yes, it is more uncomfortable because we may have our own doubts about God and what has happened and the why's but God is in the midst of all of that - he is there and you will know it as you don't try and push grief away but you embrace it and let it work its way through.  

It is a profound thing to sit Shiva with a hurting person.  A hurt person needs to be known and sitting Shiva is one of the best ways I have experienced to let someone know they are not alone and they are seen. In my own life I am trying to remember the practice of sitting Shiva with hurt people and how, when the time comes and I am hurting, I want others to respond to my pain. 

For more information on the Judaism practice of sitting Shiva click here and here.  

Monday's Child

Poor Mondays.  They get such a bad rap.  When did that start?  When did *we*decide Mondays were to blame for our reluctance to go to work, or to blame for lack of sleep which leads us to bad moods, or for a hectic workday due to our slacking off on Friday?  You get the idea.  And on top of that poor Monday gets the blame other days of the week as well! How many of us have had a hectic, unsettling, bad any-other-day-of-the-week-but-Monday and sighed, "Today is such a 'monday'!"  Poor Mondays.

I've talked a little about Mondays before, on my other blog and on Facebook. A couple of years ago I was challenged in my view on Mondays after being reminded of this, "This is the day the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it."  Another version, The Amplified Bible, says this is the day the Lord has brought about.  I read that for the zillionth time on that day a couple of years ago and my first thought was, "Even Mondays!"  Yes God brought about, created, established Mondays along with every other day of the week. So even when a day feels authored by the enemy rest assured it is not, it is authored and covered by the Creator.  

This realization radically changed my approach to Mondays, and any other day that felt hard.  When I have the perspective that my day, Monday or otherwise, was authored and set apart by God for purposes either known or unknown to me I undergo an attitude adjustment.  I can see reasons to celebrate the day, to be grateful for the challenges, to understand that some days are harder than others but God's promises for each day hold true. When the day is harder than expected, or I would have liked, I remind myself that God authored the day and then I remind myself, "It is because of the Lord’s mercy and loving-kindness that we are not consumed, because His [tender] compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great and abundant is Your stability and faithfulness. The Lord is my portion or share, says my living being (my inner self); therefore will I hope in Him and wait expectantly for Him." Each day I get a fresh helping of God's mercies and compassions.  Clean slate every day! That's enough right there to make me grateful for a Monday, or any other day. When I can't get my mind, and heart, to come around to that perspective then my day, Monday or otherwise pretty much blows.

I no longer distinguish Mondays between every other day of the week. It's just another day of the week and frankly my weekend could stink and my Monday be fantastic! It's all a matter of perspective, as a lot of things in life are.

I find that almost every Monday I remind myself of Psalm 118:24 so that when I run into people and they bemoan Monday I can remind them as well what this day is. It is the Lord's so let us rejoice and be glad in it! 

Celebrating the mite

I've been thinking a lot lately about the widow's mite.*  It's always bothered me that organizations hold large and lavish dinners and "thank you's" for their big money donors.  It bugs me because of the widow's mite. What if we threw a large and lavish dinner for the donors that are giving $10 (as an example) of their money every month faithfully for years on end?  What if we celebrated the mite donations rather than the large ones that always gain the most attention?  What kind of message would that send?
I've listened to a fair number of fundraiser dinners and pledge drives in my lifetime and I'm always unsettled by the meager "thank you" faithful donors get when their dollar amount doesn't reach the organization's ideal for a celebratory thank you.*  I think we have it backwards.  I think we should start inviting all to the dinner, regardless of their dollar amount donation.  And don't set up the seating according to dollar amounts either, mix them up.  I'm addressing the Church here (and non-profit para-church organizations) because, as far as I can see, God has addressed this with us already.  And I think we've forgotten or we've chosen to interpret it differently.  In James 2 favoritism is discussed.  Oh I can hear the protesting as I say that.  But in that silent moment when you have to be honest with yourself think about it.  Those large, lavish dinners for top dollar donors that aren't open to the $10 a month donors, what would you call that?  Preferential treatment. Placating.  People, it's favoritism at its roots.  It is.  I know, *you* wish it weren't so but wishing doesn't change what is fact.
The message it sends to those $10 a month donors is that while their donation is appreciated it just isn't quite enough.  There are a *million* donor departments and consulting firms that would disagree with me.  That's okay, I know what I know.  I know what people share with me.  I know what I observe.  And most importantly I know what God says about it.  God calls us to live backwards from how the world lives.  I'm so crazy I think it would be awesome to take it one step further and invite the big money donors to fund a large and lavish dinner for the lower dollar donors!*  GASP.  It's such a bold and out of the box idea. *grin*
How have we gotten to the place in the Church where people who throw a lot of money in the offering get coddled and expect to be treated with preference?  Oh those people wouldn't say they expect that and organizations/churches wouldn't say they coddle - in fact with that one question I have managed to offend pretty much every single organization and church in America - but they do.  Again, this calls for an honest moment.
What kind of message would top donors send to the various organizations that they support if they were put off because they didn't get a thank you gift or dinner or something?  Well it would reveal motive for the financial gift for sure.  I've run into a few of these donors in my years touring Christian organizations/churches through jobs.  They aren't pleasant people the minute they aren't thanked as they think they should be or their "suggestions" for the organization/church aren't implemented.  And the moment that happens their financial gifts develop a stench.  But those $10 a month donors?  They are always genuinely surprised and grateful for any show of appreciation for their gift.  Listen, those $10 a month people know their gift isn't much.  They might even feel bad they can't give more.  But those gifts, they count.  They matter.  In the end they add up to more than the gift of one top dollar donor.  Their sacrifice, while they don't expect it to be recognized and appreciated, should be.  More so than the top dollar donors.  Go back to James 2, it's right there.
Now I'm not saying we shouldn't thank top dollar donors.  I'm just saying that regardless of the dollar amount of a donation the "thank you" should be the same.  $10 to one person is as much as $1000 to another.  It's the same in their worlds.  So in the world where thank you's are issued for financial gifts the thank you should be the same as well.
Celebrate the mite and you'll be living backwards.


*If you aren't familiar with the story click here. If you aren't familiar with what mite means click here and scroll down to "2 mite noun".  You are welcome.  :)
  
*And no, this is not because I didn't get invited to something and need to passive-aggressively point it out.  In all honesty when I get invited to things that I know are costing money in order for the organization to keep my money I prefer to not go and just send in a donation.  I don't see how it makes sense to spend money to get money.  Again, a *million* donor departments and consulting firms would disagree with me and that's okay. Perhaps I'm just too simple minded for them.  But I think that phrase "less is more" applies here as well.  :) 

*Take it one step further and use the money you would pay for a large and lavish dinner and put it instead toward the organization/church you support and just send a nice "thank you" email (why spend money on printing, paper, and postage?).  I know, now I'm really talking crazy here. *wink*

*Perspectives: On Depression

*Perspective: A way of looking at a situation.  I'm a daughter, sister, friend, wife, mom, aunt, and employee.  I don't claim to be an expert on anything nor have all the answers to something.  Please bear that in mind as you read my perspective.  Chances are good it will differ from your own.  It's okay to have different ones!

You may or may not know that in the past few years I have come out of a season of deep depression. And I still struggle with mild depression from time to time.*  In an effort to dispel some of the lies and shame that the Church in particular attaches to depression I thought I would take a chance and share parts of my story in order to bring perhaps a clearer and honest perspective to this issue. Last week was "Mental Health Awareness Week" and so this post that I've been thinking through for a while now comes at a good time. By the way, not everyone who struggles with depression is going to feel the way I do about it.  This is my own personal account.  Everyone has a different story and experience with it.

Did I hear you gasp when you read that I have been depressed and am publicly admitting it?  :)  Then let me take it a step further.  I was in such a bad place that my wonderful, Godly biblical counselor recommended I take medication for it.  GASP.  I know.  It's okay.  Just breathe.  It's one thing to take the meds and struggle with the depression but it's a whole other thing to publicly admit it within the Church especially.  And while it is true that Church opinion of depression has softened a bit in the past few years they are still a long way off from "being there" for people who struggle for brief seasons or for life with depression.  I can now speak from personal experience and I think that maybe that was one of the reasons I walked through my season.  I needed more understanding, I needed more empathy, I needed more insight.  As a counselor I needed to acquire those things so that I could be a better counselor, a better friend, a better person.  I, unknowingly, needed my held beliefs about depression and medications for depression to be challenged by God.  And I'm grateful.

Yes, you read that right.  I am grateful for the season of depression God allowed in my life.

Let me give you the abridged version.
One day I felt...unsettled.  Then a few days later I started crying. Then I stopped answering my phone, responding to emails, getting dressed (I was working from home at the time). I started sitting on my couch a lot watching mindless TV, I took naps because no matter how much sleep I was getting I was exhausted all of the time.  It took every ounce of energy I had to drive my children to school each day. I felt like a deep, dark pit had swallowed me up.  I was perplexed.  What, I wondered, was happening to me?  I had stopped the crying jags but now I just felt...nothing.  I was numb to life.  What, I wondered, had happened to me?
I finally, because I am a counselor after all, pulled myself up off the couch and called a counselor I had seen a few years prior.  I put myself in a car and drove to her office.  I huddled in her office, wrapped in a cardigan and confusion, and told her I was depressed but I couldn't figure out why and I actually was too numb to care why.  (That's when I knew I needed some outside help.)  My counselor listened and said, "Let's try *this* before we try *this*."  And so for a few weeks we tried a few different things to see if I could begin to distance myself from the fog that had enveloped me.  It wasn't working.  In her previous career she had been a nurse.  She said, "How do you feel about meds short term?"  I was desperate to feel something other than numbness so I said, "yes" and she explained her thoughts behind meds. Clearly something was needed to get the fog cleared enough that I would want to even begin to address what had led me into this deep, dark pit.  She sent me to my Doctor. He's a family friend, he gave me this quickie 5 question "test" which I failed and he said, "Let's try it."  It was the lowest dosage you could take next to taking nothing.  I started taking it and hoping it would be enough.  In time, it was.  I began to have days where the fog thinned and I could see shadows of life again.  My counselor's voice was able to cut through the illogical thoughts and feelings this deep and dark pit had created.  I felt some days like I was swimming up toward the surface of the water after being submerged for too long.  I could answer an email or two, but the phone was still off limits (still is actually, but I'm not sure why). There were days where I didn't dread leaving the house although I was sure glad to get back to it.  And eventually I could talk and process again, I could be gone from the house for extended periods of time without totally seizing up in anxiety, I climbed out of pajamas and started wearing clothes again, I answered more emails.
As the fog started to clear I was able to begin to look long and hard at the possibilities and the reasons I had landed in this strange and isolating place.  And I started to see that for this season I was going to have to focus on taking care of me if I was ever going to emerge so that I could continue to take care of others.  I drew some boundaries, made some relationship decisions, I withdrew from certain places or activities that caused too much anxiety.  I began to engage in things that I could handle and could be categorized as "soul care". I hadn't read a book for pleasure in a few years, I had been reading non-fiction personal development books so I put those down and picked up fiction again and rediscovered an important fact about me - I need to be reading fiction mixed with non-fiction as a way of taking care of myself, it was - it is - important to me. I was having a hard time handling large crowds of people, especially ones I felt like I needed to make small talk with, so I stopped attending church services (which led to me leaving traditional church altogether but that part of the story is a very different post *grin*).  There were other things I did to bring some balance back to my life but you get the idea I am sure.
Eventually I was doing good. My counselor and I had worked through some important things, the meds were keeping me engaged in life, and I was seeing more sunny days than foggy ones. Just about the time I was feeling good my husband and I decided I needed to find a job outside of the home that provided more income than what I was making. So I, in hesitation because I still wasn't too keen on being out in public and not having the option to wear pajamas for the day, applied and landed, of all jobs, a front desk position at a fairly busy ministry organization.  Not only would I be out in public and have to wear clothing but I was going to be "the face" of this ministry Monday through Friday 5 hours a day AND have to talk to people and be sociable. Talk about a turnaround from couch sitting and days spent in solitude! But it came at a good time, I was in a good enough place to take the job and allow it to be part of the catalyst for being able to fully emerge from the deep and dark pit.  I weaned off of the meds I was taking but had a greater understanding for their purpose and a deeper empathy for those who needed to be on them long term.
If you can believe it, that is the short version.  And since that time I still go through periods of mild depression where I have to pull back a little from life and examine why I'm feeling unsettled and do what I need to do to regroup.  But my periods of mild depression now are brief and manageable.  They are usually marked by an avoidance of emails, texts, and phone calls. My social media use slows down. I begin to make excuses for not participating in things that require me being away from home and in clothes.  You know, things like that. But I can manage it much better now, plus it is probably very helpful that I do have a job outside of the home that forces me to interact with life.  I probably won't need to return to meds because I have learned how to catch myself and do what it takes to work through it so the fog doesn't envelope me again and because my depression isn't as severe as what others do experience.

So where does the gratefulness come in?  I alluded to it above. It gave me deeper understanding, empathy, and insight into those that struggle with depression.  I believe it has given my spirit a softness for hurting people that I didn't have before.  It helped me understand grace in new and deeper ways. It removed from me any fringes of judgement towards those with depression.  And in a lot of ways it introduced me to continued freedom in my life.  As I said above at the beginning, not everyone who struggles with depression is going to feel the way I do about it.  This is my own personal account.  Everyone has a different story and experience with it.

Here's what I want to say to the Church and its uneasy acknowledgment of depression:
Church, breathe, it's OKAY.
It doesn't mean the person doesn't have faith in Christ.  It doesn't mean the person doesn't trust Christ.  It doesn't mean the person is embroiled in deep sin.  Meds don't mean the person is weak and lacking.  I googled "christian books about depression" and several links came up.  There are those talking about depression but in the churches, on Sunday mornings and Wednesday nights, if someone dares to utter "I think I'm depressed" people start murmuring and advising the person to claim joy instead and just deny the depression.  *You* don't think that person has already tried that?  *You* don't think they have already tried to climb out of their pit by themselves?  Is it best to try and deny it (the equivalent of stuffing it and trying to ignore it)?  Do *you* really think it is helpful to tell them that they brought it on themselves by thinking it into existence?  Did you know some of the greatest people in the Word of God experienced depression and at least one of them was not in sin, in fact he was called righteous by God!
I think the Church is uneasy with depression because it seems so contrary to God and faith. If you believe in God and trust him then how could you be "sad" (depression isn't just sadness by the way, oftentimes it is manifested in many other ways)?  We say with our mouths that we are flawed people with wounded hearts but when someone actually exhibits it we feel uneasy and uncomfortable.  We don't like the implications that we too could experience the fog of depression.  We don't like to see the emotional suffering of someone who says they love God because what does that then perhaps mean about God? The unease of the Church centers around God and the doubts about him that depression can introduce or increase.  And we don't like to admit that sometimes we doubt God.  GASP.  I just got you again didn't I?  Well, let me say it again. Sometimes we doubt God and guess what?  God's okay with that!  He is.  We aren't okay with it but he is. He is not threatened by it or disappointed by it or even surprised by it.  But we are and we put that on others when they make us uncomfortable with their depression.
Right after the darkest part of my depression came to an end, I entered into an in-depth study of the book of Job.  It was the perfect thing to study as I was coming out of the darkest moments.  It helped me see what God has to say about doubting him, depression, friendships, etc.  It definitely contributed to where I am at today in terms of my beliefs about mental health and the character of God.  It was such a powerful study that I am trying to organize it all into notes and perhaps a study that I can share with others as I feel led.  Through my study of Job God challenged me on several levels about how I have responded to people in the past who have been hurting, on how I view him, on how I respond to my own hurting moments.  These revelations by him led to my observations about the Church missing it on "being there" for the wounded.

Perhaps you don't like or don't agree with my conclusions about the Church and its response to depression. Okay.  I know what I know through personal experience, through going through counseling, through observation, through hearing others talk about it as if it were a sin.  I'm not sure that unless you personally experience it you can really get it.  And that's okay.  I'd rather you not personally experience depression but I would rather you find some empathy for those who struggle, I would rather you find some grace and mercy and leave judgement to someone else, I would rather you be okay with not totally understanding and yet still be able to sit, stand, or walk alongside someone who might be experiencing it without trying to "fix" them, or hope they can ignore it, or make them feel guilty about feeling the way they do and being a Christian.  (Be honest, you know exactly what I mean and you know either you've done it or you know people who have done this.)  I have found that while the Church at large says they have empathy and support those who have depression the local Church bodies don't always live that out.  It's easy to make the grand and "politically/spiritually correct" statements but it's not so easy to live them out when someone shows up in your life with it and suddenly you are confronted with insecurities, unease, doubts, and even some fear.  

This isn't a complete post about my perspective on depression.  It's lacking in several thoughts but I'm hoping it at least gives *you* a better picture of what depression can be, does, and looks like in my life and perhaps in others.  Allow your ideas and beliefs to be challenged and you will become a better friend, spouse, a better person because of it.

*It's kind of ironic that I'm writing this post at this time since I am, in fact, struggling with some mild depression as of late.  In fact tonight I had a mild panic attack and had to pull back from something so that I didn't freak people out or embarrass my daughter. And you know what?  I'm okay admitting that to *you*.  

Makin' Lemonade

Sometimes our days aren't so sunshiny.  You know what I mean.  

Some days we are handed a bunch of sour lemons and absolutely no sugar to sweeten things up.  And if you have ever tried to make lemonade without the sugar all you get is sour water.  You need the sugar to make it lemonade.
So what to do when your day (or your week or your month or even your year) holds a bunch of sour lemons and it seems like there is no sugar to be had?
Here's what I do.  I say to myself, "Beth, make some lemonade.  Find the sugar, it's somewhere."  Because while I might not have been handed the sugar or it's not readily visible, it is there...somewhere.  And I need to find it.  So I begin to look for ways to make lemonade.  (In fact, some days my answer to the question "How are you today?" is , "I'm makin' lemonade today!" and that is a big clue that I feel like I've got a bunch of sour lemons and I'm looking for the sugar.)
I have found that I can find the sugar easier when I am more in tune to the simple and little things.  Who says that sugar is found in big and sweeping gestures?  More often than not it's found in the smaller, almost unnoticeable things.  For example, a week or so ago a friend of mine found some sugar for her day in an almost unnoticeable act of kindness.  She was backing out of her driveway while school drop-off happened to be going on.  Her street was lined and she was sitting in her driveway waiting when a car stopped and gave her space to back out.  That was sugar my friends.  My friend might have missed that bit of sugar if she hadn't been tuned in to look for things that cause her to be grateful.  Being grateful for things makes the sugar a lot easier to find.
That's the key to lemonade makin' and sugar findin'.  Gratefulness.  When we can't find anything to be grateful about we are in big trouble.  When we can't even muster up the gratefulness for the things we don't think about (but should) and the things that we take for granted (but shouldn't) that is sour lemons.
So the next time you find yourself with a bag full of sour lemons and no sugar, begin to look for ways to make lemonade - find the sugar, it's there.

Dear Parent, did you know?

Dear Parent,
Thanks for your letter, it helped me understand you a little better.  I'll try to remember you are human from now on but I make no promises.  Since we are talking and all, I thought maybe you should know a few things from me.

Did you know that I want to talk to you and be honest with you but won't when you don't seem to want to listen but talk at me?  I'm trying to figure stuff out and sometimes I just need you to listen to me and not try to give me any of that "life experience" that you talk about.  I need to have my own "life experiences" so I can one day talk to my kids with my own lessons learned.  Can you just listen and let me try to work it out on my own?  We both might be surprised at the outcome.  There will be times I want to hear about your "life experiences" but you'll know when I want to, I'll ask.

Yeah, yeah.  You were a teenager once blah, blah, blah.  Well now it's my turn.  I need you to be the parent, the adult, and let me be the teenager.  I don't want a friend, I have those.  I want an adult who I know is going to drive me crazy but also give me a place to figure this life stuff out.  Please quit trying to be my friend. I've seen you and your parents and I know we can be friends later, right now I need a parent. Yes, I might tell you how I'm feeling about something or someone, I really need for you to step it up and respond to it like a parent and not my best friend.  If you don't then I'm not going to talk to you about much of anything anymore.

Did you know that I know that you make mistakes?  Sure I know it but when I have tried to tell you and you have bitten my head off and made it seem like you are never wrong I back away.  Okay fine, maybe I didn't tell you in the nicest way but you still made a mistake.  It wouldn't hurt you to apologize to me you know. You raised me to apologize when I do something wrong, make a mistake, or something so why aren't you following your own advice?  Did you know that I will respect you more when I see you own up for your mistakes?

Did you know that you can trust me until I give you a reason not to?  After all, you did raise me.  And while I may not act like I heard you all those years, I did.  Try trusting me and seeing what happens.  You may be surprised at what I do or say.  That being said, I'm going to make mistakes (it's part of getting my own "life experiences" remember?) and while I know there may be punishment I wish you would also listen to me when I try to explain my thought process about the mistake.  Sure, I hate being punished but maybe if you can also help me figure out what to do or say differently next time in a productive way then I might be a little nicer while serving my time.  After all, you do want me to learn from my mistakes right?  Then help me learn.

Did you know that when you yell and use phrases like, "When you live under my roof you'll follow my rules" that I tune out?  Like I said earlier, when you talk at me and not to me I glaze over.  Was that effective with you when you were a teenager?  Yeah, I didn't think so.  Maybe it's time to try a new approach.  Just because I am young doesn't mean I don't know how to think and respond in a mature way.  Try treating me with a little respect and as if I have some maturity.  You might be surprised.

Did you know that I have my own dreams for the future and I don't want to be the one to live out yours? Please don't force me into some mold you think I belong in.  If you do that I will end up resenting you.  I am my own person and should have the freedom to live out my own dreams, if you support me in that then I will probably support you in going after yours.

One last thing.  This is a secret so can you keep it quiet please and not out me to my friends or anything like that?  I secretly like being a part of this family and when we hang out together I do have fun.  I know I might act all bored and annoyed with my siblings or you guys but actually I like it.  I like knowing that I have a family who loves me and is there for me.  So, yeah, thanks.

Dear Teenager, did you know?

Dear Teenager,

This isn't about how you dress or what you watch or listen to - you've heard from plenty of other people about that.  This is about your parents. You know, the people who live in the same house as you - they feed you, they pay bills to ensure you have a roof over your head, they clothe you, they love you (I hope).  

Did you know that your parents aren't just parents?  I think you might know that intellectually but I think you also might forget, when I was a teenager I forgot too.  We all need a reminder from time to time.  

Did you know that once upon a time your parents were teenagers "just" like you?  They had best friends and boyfriends/girlfriends, they had to go to school and do homework, they had fights with their own parents and rolled their eyes at them too.  Your parents also had dreams about their futures, they had goals, they had TV shows they loved and hated, music genres they loved and hated, a fashion style that was either "in" or "out". Did you know that your parents probably had their heart broken by someone?  

Did you know that your parents aren't just parents?  They are humans that have feelings just like you. They still have dreams and goals they would like to see come to fruition someday.  They can still get heartbroken. They still have homework - most of the time it just looks a little different.  Sometimes they still fight with their parents or siblings.  They still have friendship troubles of their own from time to time.  They still have a romantic/love relationship that needs attention and requires work from time to time (that's your other parent I'm referring to).  

Did you know that when you snap at them because you are having a bad day or are annoyed at the moment or think they are purposely trying to bug you that you hurt their feelings?  Just like your feelings may be hurt if they do that to you or someone else does.  Did you know that your parents also have bad days, get annoyed at people, and feel slighted by others (including you!)?  

Have you ever thought about your parents as humans rather than parents?  Again, intellectually I think you know they are humans but we all get stuck in our ruts and forget that people are more than their labels.  Your parents aren't just parents, that role isn't the entirety of their life - that is just a part of their life.  They are sons/daughters, husband/wife, friends, brother/sister, co-workers, talented, dreamers, aunt/uncle, passionate, fill in the blank.  

Do you know the dreams of your parents?  Do you know what they are passionate about outside of what you see they do day in and day out?  Do you know what their favorite color is and why?  Or what their favorite drink or dessert is?  Do you know what they do at their job (if they work outside of the home)?  Do you know why they are so protective of you?  What do you know about your parents outside of the label parent?  They know you.  They study you and commit to memory your favorite things, what annoys you, what makes you smile, they listen carefully to what you are and aren't saying about your future.  Have you taken the time to listen to them (they may not be as boring as you think!)?  

Your parents are living their own stories, you aren't the only one whose story is being written.  Their stories are still being written, they are just a few chapters ahead of you.  While they are your parents, remember they are also people who have feelings, dreams, and hopes just like you.  

Sincerely, 

A parent who is also a wife, Mom, daughter, sister, Aunt, friend, co-worker, and has big dreams

Our Electronics Sabbath

This past weekend we held our first electronics sabbath.  We've been meaning to for a while now but kept getting distracted from doing it (and if that isn't irony I'm not sure what is).  Yesterday I talked about the decline of many things in light of social media and smart phones.  You might want to read my thoughts there to give you better insight into what I'm saying here.

We instituted a no electronics sabbath from sundown to sundown.  A 24 hour period in which we literally shut down and/or powered off our phones and computers.  We did still allow the Wii and limited TV (as in 1 movie).  We gave our redheads a few hours warning so they could frantically text their friends to tell them about the cruel and unusual punishment we were dealing.  :)  I let it be known in Facebook land that I wouldn't be around (not like I was missed or anything) and at sundown we powered off and let our electronics get a little rest themselves.  We got milkshakes to "soothe" ourselves and the oldest tried a facial mask.  The first little sting of no electronics hit when she wanted to take a picture of her masked face and I couldn't find my real camera.  We powered on my phone for 2 minutes to snap the pic.  Darn it.  I really need to locate my real camera.  The redheads stayed close to one another and we let them watch one movie. Us adults headed for bed.

The next day was a little different.  A couple of times (okay more than a couple) I headed toward my phone to see if there were any texts I had missed.  Nope.  At one point I thought about replying back to someone on FB about something.  Nope.  All of a sudden I had all these people I needed to email.  Nope.  So I made a list of what I thought I needed to do once I joined the online world again.  And then I allowed the day to happen.  To distract the girls, specifically the oldest, from the lack of "connection" I took them shopping. That was another weird moment.  I took my phone (shut off) with me just in case a car emergency came up but it stayed tucked away in my purse.  Several times I thought about hopping on my phone to check this or that.  Nope.  On the way home, finally, I was going to call Lanny and let him know we were on the way. Nope.  What did we ever do without cell phones?!  Upon arriving home I discovered that the recipe I was using for dinner that night was on my Kindle.  Darn it.  So I powered on my Kindle for a few minutes and grabbed the recipe.  Of all the nights to make something that came off my Kindle.  The minute my Kindle powered up I instinctively hit the Facebook icon and it was pulled up by the time I realized what I had done and exited and went to my bookshelf for the recipe! Sheesh!

When sundown came the oldest was "jonesing" for her electronics and I realized that we need to do this more (the oldest isn't going to be too happy about that) so that the electronics in her life don't have power over her but she has power over them - and the same would be true for all of us.  Taking a break from all electronics revealed to me some interesting things: I am much more dependent on my cell phone than I realized, without the "noise" of electronics the house is a lot quieter and that unnerved my kids (the hub and I were just fine with that), TV becomes a temptation when electronics aren't available (which is why I limited it to 1 movie - I didn't want a 24 hour TV marathon to replace the electronics, then there would have been no purpose to the sabbath), being without electronics made us (with the exception of Lanny) a little unsettled/ancy/irritable.  In short we rely too much on our electronics to entertain us, interact for us, provide something for us (my recipe was on the Kindle!).  Are there benefits to having these electronics?  Yes! But we have relinquished our ability to have authenticity with others to screens and keyboards. There's no way we are giving up our electronics or social media pages but the change can come in how much we allow them to dictate our choices and behaviors and our true social lives.

We'll be doing more of these sabbaths. They are good for our souls and our relationships.  The redheads may disagree with me but I think, as Monk says, they'll thank us later.


In doing some Googling for the other post I came across this site and found it to be interesting. Perhaps you would be interested by it as well.  

We've been hijacked!

Anyone else notice the severe DECLINE in authentic relationships since the MySpace, Facebook, et al Social Media craze hit and took over our social lives?  We were told it would enhance our social lives, instead I think we've been hijacked.  I've been thinking about this problem for a long time.  And since I started thinking about it my attention has been drawn to others who also have noticed this decline in authentic social life.  Most recently I saw these two videos, ironically posted on Facebook, and it renewed my passion once again for my dislike of what "social media" has done to us.  Take a watch and then we'll pick back up the conversation.

Right?!  And you know as well as I do that the scenes depicted in that first video aren't exaggerated.  I am pretty sure the majority of us have done one, or more, of those things.  I know I have.  Much to my shame and compulsion.

Authentic social life has been hijacked for the sake of technology and advancements.  It makes me sad. Yes, I participate in it - probably too much - and even as I do I hate it.  I hate that my connections have diminished to the point of a thumbs up and that I can fake a good mood and nobody is the wiser.  I hate that I can be a totally different person through social media and people like me for a false representation of who I am.  (Btw, I am probably 99% authentic on my social media sites, my theory is if I can't be the same person on social media as I am in person then I need to reevaluate myself.  Ask people who have known me long before social media made an appearance - heck before computers were even around! - and I hope they would say that I am the same on social media as in person.)  I hate that smart phones have actually dumbed us down - we no longer have to think for ourselves and try to find answers out on our own, that's what Google is for.  I hate that kids these days don't know how to spell properly, they don't know how to write in full sentences, they don't use etiquette while on the phone, they can barely hand write anything, any teacher right now could add to this particular list I've got going on.  I hate that people have become uncomfortable with silence and with themselves, that they feel they need to distract themselves all of the time lest they are forced to be introspective or engage with others.  I hate that eye contact has become extinct and people are more comfortable looking at their screens than in the eyes of someone.  I hate that people have used social media as their newest platform to be rude, passive aggressive, pompous.  I hate that people somehow think it is okay to tear other people's beliefs, ideas, and thoughts to shreds and use social media as their excuse for poor behavior. There's more that I dislike but I think you get the idea.

I know.  The lady doth protest too much while posting this newest blog on her social media site.  I know! There are some benefits to social media.  I am grateful it provides me a way to keep in touch with my friends overseas - I can see pictures of them and their families, I can communicate rather quickly with them, I can glimpse into their daily lives.  I like all those things for friends out of state or even out of town.  BUT.  But nothing beats face to face, voice to voice, heart to heart relationship.  Nothing.  Social Media has convinced us that it compares, is perhaps even equal to.  It is not.  There's no other way to say it, nothing beats real time.

I'm not the only one who uses social media, sees its downfalls, and hates it.  Since MySpace hit the scene (and then got chased away by Facebook) and phones got "smart" people have started to recognize the trappings of social media.  I remember a few years ago reading an article in Reader's Digest (which I looked for and can't find but trust me on this one okay?) about a group of friends who decided they were way too attached to screens and not enough to true face time.  So they turned off their phones every weekend for an entire day and connected...for real, you know the "old-fashioned" way. They would have brunch together and make eye contact and not even think about what they might be missing on Facebook (although it could have been MySpace back then) and they experienced authentic relationship.  And the more they did this the easier it got to stay unattached to their smart phones and social media outlets even when they did choose to have access.  What held them back from an authentic social life lost its power as they made a choice to disengage to engage.  I've kept that in mind through the years and while I have said I want to practice that I haven't.

At least not until this past weekend.  :)

So, what are you wearing today?

"She knew JOY was one of her best accessories, so she made up her mind to wear it every day."

(Dayspring)

I've already had my say about Joy in the past.  But I want to revisit it because it's topic that I think is easy to forget about or get distracted from.  And besides I'm taking a year to focus on Gratitude which are the seeds that Joy blooms from so I'm thinking about Joy again in new ways, and even in some old ways!

A couple of years ago some friends and I took one month and honed in on Joy through purposed prayer.  I was excited to pursue, intentionally, this attribute that God speaks very clearly about.  In addition to pursuing Joy in prayer I had picked up the book, "One Thousand Gifts", to read for my book club.  Yes, it definitely seemed like God had more to share with me on the subject of Joy.

The "rules" of the prayer for Joy were simple.  No chatting and talking about anything, just seeking God about Joy.  We all had work to do so we kept it simple and to the point.  We were in and out of that Prayer Room in 10 minutes or less every day.  But it was the most profound and sweet 10 minutes or less of my work days during that month.  So much so that I'm thinking of starting it back up again, after all I can't think of one person who doesn't need a reminder of Joy every so often! And not only did it connect me to God in deeper ways but it gave me connection to the people I prayed with in deeper ways.  It really is amazing how God will use the most simple and humble and honest words uttered from our hearts and mouths to transform. 

Some of what God spoke to me was refresher from past lessons learned about Joy, right down to some of the same scriptures.  And some of what he spoke to me was a deeper place than I had been before.  I was so grateful for the refresher and for the deeper places he took me. 

Because I believe lessons God gifts us with should be shared let's chat a bit about Joy, shall we?  It is the most important accessory we possess and we shouldn't leave the house without it.  Without it our souls are naked, cold, and vulnerable.  Joy is warmth, covering, and hospitable. 

• God has written it on our hearts and into our spirits.  He is the author of Joy. 
• Joy is a deeper and more profound response when we exercise it without promise or even hope that a change or a blessing is going to happen.  When we can be joyful in the "in betweens" with no guarantee of any change in our circumstances then we have truly grasped joy.  Habakkuk 3:17-18
• I need to grow in my trust in order to "get" Joy.  They are related.  If God sets something before me and tells me it is a gift of Joy for me but I can't believe that it is and I can't believe he really considers it Joy when my flesh perspective says it isn't then I don't trust God and his motives, character, or heart.  If God calls it Joy then it is and if I can't believe that then I need to work on trusting him.  James 1:2
• Why is trusting God so hard?  He has never broken trust with anyone so the problem is me. I project on to God the trust that has been broken with me by others.  Romans 15:13
• Joy is the key that unlocks the prison.  The prison of ungratefulness, bitterness, resentment, etc.  
• Psalm 16:11, His presence is Joy.
• We have Joy when we are connected to God.  He is the one who can grow true Joy in us.  John 15

So, what are you wearing today?  If your attitude is leaning toward anger or ungratefulness might I suggest the accessory of Joy and see what happens?  When Joy is worn the whole "outfit", er attitude, changes.

I really don't (I think) like you...wanna go to lunch?

"Be Kind; Everyone You Meet is Fighting a Hard Battle."

(John Watson)*

We are all guilty of this flaw.  We all have at least one person in our life whom we'd like to see move to Yemen and we would never have to deal with or see again.  My guess you have more than one person.  I know I do.  "What's the flaw Beth?  We aren't all going to get along."  Well the flaw is this, we don't actually know the person.  We don't.  Oh we say we do, we think we do based on things they say or ways they behave, but we don't actually know them. 

Stick with me.  I've got an example from the past, mine specifically, that has come back around today as a result of a hard situation I had to witness.

The year was 2007.  (Ha, you totally thought it was going to be a really long time ago.)  I was prepping to head to Kenya.  I was dreading it but resolved to obedience.  (Wondering about all that?  Click here.)  What I didn't know was that my entire team was sort of dreading it as well...BECAUSE OF ME.  I don't remember speaking much at team meetings but apparently when I did it was all fear-filled and anxiety laden.  All they knew about me was what they heard me say and from the few things I said they all formed opinions about me and decided they "knew" me.  (Now you know where I'm headed with this lesson don't you?!)  Ever have that happen to you?  Now be honest, how many times a week, a month, do you do that to someone else?  Whose name immediately popped into your mind when you read my last sentence? We all have at least one person we have done this too. 

Before the trip I had a lunch meeting with a team member.  She's a strong personality and frankly scared me to death.  My plan was just to be as quiet as possible and just do whatever I could so we would get along.  (Don't even start with me, I'm sure that will be a blog in itself one day, sooner rather than later.)  I praise God for my friend's honesty.  She looked me straight in the eye and said, "Beth, I don't think we are going to get along.  I'm concerned that I'm going to run (bulldoze - ha!) right over you."  My jaw dropped.  She went on to explain why, telling me about the things I had said at team meetings causing her to half-dread taking this trip with me.  I was shocked.  I had no idea that my dread, etc was saturating every word that came out of my mouth and causing other team members to form an opinion about me and who I was. 

To my friend's credit she did two things that day that we all can and should learn from and put into practice immediately.  1)  She was honest with me about how she felt about me, the little she knew to that point.  2)  She asked me to share my story with her so she could gain better understanding. 

Fast-forward to present day. 

A few days ago I had someone, who has their own story, inappropriately discuss a person they didn't like with me.  (Btw, don't think I let the gossip just flow - I nipped it in the bud as quick as I possibly could.)  Now what's interesting about this person's vent to me was two things.  1)  Before they started venting they asked, in a roundabout way, if I liked the person.  I do.  I, in fact, love this person with philia love.  2)  After discovering that I do, indeed, like the person they still said horrible and mean things about the person to me!  Gutsy.  And awkward.  Suddenly I was placed in the position of having to defend my friend's character to this person who was bent on slandering it.  The fact of the matter is neither one of them like each other but one is incredibly vocal about their dislike while the other still treats this person with courtesy.  When I stated a truth about my friend the person venting corrected me based on their own perceptions and story that have nothing to do with the person they don't like and everything to do with themselves! 

Do you see what we DO? 

Because I've done it.  You have done it.  We have all done this.  Oh maybe we are better than going around and publicly slandering the person as the person in my story above has done but we've done it.  And in private or in public it is still wrong. 

WRONG. 

Wrong because we know what it is like to be vilified for perceptions about us that aren't true.  Wrong because if we say we are children of God then we are behaving poorly for royalty.  Wrong because we have conveniently forgotten that the very same grace that God has extended to us - oh so wretched that we each are - he also extends to the person we are slandering and he expects us to extend grace as well.  Wrong because we have dismissed the fact that the One who created us and calls us his also created that person and calls that person his. 

Every person has a story.  Sometimes we are able to conquer the story and create an ending for our benefit. Sometimes we don't know how to create a better ending so we are stuck.  Sometimes we have "writer's block" when it comes to our endings.  But we all have a story.  I like the fuller version of the quote of Watson's from the snippet I started this post with, "This man beside us also has a hard fight with an unfavouring world, with strong temptations, with doubts and fears, with wounds of the past which have skinned over, but which smart when they are touched. It is a fact, however surprising. And when this occurs to us we are moved to deal kindly with him, to bid him be of good cheer, to let him understand that we are also fighting a battle; we are bound not to irritate him, nor press hardly upon him nor help his lower self."  (John Watson, 1903)  Our stories may surprise others as much as I think they sometimes surprise us!

So I have an idea.  What if we decided to have lunch with the person we think we don't like?  Can you imagine?  What if we even paid for the lunch or brought them lunch?  What if we asked them questions and tried to get to know them, and their story, to gain understanding of why they behave and/or speak the way they do?  What if?

The story we hear doesn't serve as a justification for bad behavior from that person but it might help us have a little more understanding with them, extend Grace so that God can have a way to work in their life, and give them a chance to be exposed to healthier choices for their emotional, mental, and spiritual well-being.  
We don't have to be best friends with this person who rubs us the wrong way but God does ask us to extend courtesy and sometimes that's easier when we know a little of their story.

Who has come to the forefront of your mind?  Consider asking them to lunch!  Go ahead, take the chance and let God have his way.  

Oh, the friend who was afraid she would bulldoze me?  Yep.  This is her and I, besties.  

God used that lunch and our honesty with each other to knit our hearts together in a way that amazes us.  

It doesn't always happen this way but when it does it is oh so sweet. 

*Thought it was Plato who said it huh?  Click here for research on the author of this quote!

Blurry Grace

Lately I've been looking around, I've been listening, I've been observing.  And I'm confused.  I'm confused because I think Grace has been misappropriated, misunderstood, taken advantage of, used up.

Several years ago a friend and I would joke around about obtaining pre-meditated forgiveness for a sin we were considering committing.  We were joking but I think these days people actually do this and use Grace as their "get out of jail free" card.  I see a flippant attitude to the character God calls us too and when questioned the answer is usually in the form of, "Well that's why there is God's Grace."  Well no, not really. I mean, yes, there is Grace from God but no, that's not an excuse for intentional and consistent sin against God and his Word.  These days there is ultra-sensitivity to legalism so people have become reluctant to point out the abuses Grace is taking.  But it isn't legalism when it is simply God's word straight up.  What I may bring up as examples could sting a little.  But rest assured I had to go through the stinging before I put it out there for anyone else.  Are you willing to be stung so that Grace becomes a point of clarity in your life and not a blurred line?

Here are some questions about Grace that I've been thinking about.

• Can you take Grace too far?  How far is too far?
• Where do you draw the line between permissive lifestyle and Grace lifestyle?

Why is Grace important?  A couple of key reasons I think.

One, because God's Grace in our lives should lead us to desire holiness. It should prompt us to want to engage in the things of God and not the things of our flesh.  As an author I like to read and follow says, "The law exposes the ugliness of sin and drives you to Grace.  Grace exposes the beauty of God's law and moves you to obey." (Paul David Tripp)  Right on! God's law, a better interpretation of that word would actually be instructions, is beautiful and meant for our good, for our benefit, in all ways - physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually.  And when I recognize and accept the beauty of God's instructions I want to obey. It's not even that I feel forced to obey, I truly desire to.  Grace leads me to an exercise in holiness.

Secondly, Grace offers us a cushion.  A cushion on which to land when we fall down. And we all fall down. But Grace is not something to take advantage of.  It isn't our "get out of jail free" card. It isn't our license to sin because we know we can ask for forgiveness and will be granted it.   In his book, The Truth War, John MacArthur has this to say about the abuse of Grace in the Church today, "....they [believers] presumptuously regarded God's kindness to sinners as a license for immoral conduct....All their stress on freedom in Christ was actually a back-handed assault on God's grace.  'Grace' to them was nothing more than a phony justification for lust-driven behavior."  (The Truth War page 137.  Also check out: 2 Peter 2:19, Jude 1:4) Stings a little doesn't?  

But Beth, I don't engage in lust-driven behavior.  Okay, well while that is the focus of MacArthur's text let's talk about some other assaults on Grace.  Have you ever...

• Dropped the f-bomb as part of your normal speech?  (I get the times in anger but even then we do have the Spirit in us to help us exercise self-control even when we don't want to or feel like it.)
• Called in sick to work when you weren't sick?  (That's called lying.)
• Engaged in lustful behavior that edged right up to the line of going over?  (I thought I would throw lust back in seeing as how a lot of singles, and even marrieds, don't have a proper and right understanding of lust.)
• Justified your actions regarding: stealing, lying, gossiping, etc.

There's more where that list came from.  All of those things, and more, lead us to a lifestyle opposite of Grace.  If Grace leads us to holiness then when we engage in word and deed opposite of holiness we are abusing God's gift of Grace in our lives.

Where we abuse Grace in one area we will begin to in others. That's when the gift of Grace becomes a blurred line in our lives and no longer a point of clarity.  That's when we begin to treat it as a "get out of jail free" card and not a place to reside in so we can exercise holiness. It's where we begin to shrug off holiness and call it "legalism" so we can justify our unholy behaviors and words. 

Back to my questions that I've been thinking about.  In light of what we've just discussed here's where I land:

• Can you take Grace too far?  How far is too far?                                                                         Yes, I believe you can take Grace so far that it is no longer Grace, it's just a word that is used to provide a cover for what you are really doing.  You can take it so far that it becomes your justification not your sanctification.  How far is too far?  When you shrug it off so that the behaviors and words your engage in fit more comfortably than the holiness Grace compels us too.  
• Where do you draw the line between permissive lifestyle and a Grace lifestyle?                              This particular question came from a conversation I had with a barista in a coffee shop a couple of years ago.  (No seriously, this post has been sitting in my queue for two years waiting on me to wrap it up!  But I digress.)  He and I were chatting while he got my delicious coffee.  I love this particular coffee shop in town, the people who own it are a large family that are all beautiful and love Jesus but, yes I said but, the more I spoke with them - the parents, the various kids - the more I saw a permissive lifestyle lived couched in "Well that's why there is God's Grace" accompanied by a shoulder shrug.  Huh.  I'm not judging, I'm observing.  And because I really like this family I started thinking about where is the line?  And do you love Jesus "for real" when you don't let Grace sanctify your life?  (Remember, Grace should lead us to a lifestyle of holiness.)  The line, in my opinion, is drawn when God's instructions are pushed aside for the freedom to engage in our flesh.                       

I know.  It sounds radical.  It sounds "legalistic".  It sounds so counter-cultural.  I suppose you could look at it that way, except for the legalistic label.  It is not legalistic when it is God's word straight up.  We like to label things that we don't like or that rub us the wrong way as legalistic, get over it.  Allow God's word to pierce you, get settled in to the idea that God's word is not called a two-edged sword for no reason.  It is meant to divide us from our flesh and show us how to live in God's ways.  That's going to pierce.  Is this idea of Grace not being a "get out of jail free" card counter-cultural and radical?  You bet.  Especially in this day where affluence and comfort is the affliction of the Church and living Godly lifestyles.  We want our cake (Grace) and to be able to gorge on it with no consequences (permissive lifestyles).  That idea, my friends, is counter-cultural to God's instructions.  

Are you living in blurry grace?  Have you been using Grace as a justification and denying its real mission of sanctification?  The thing that I didn't really touch on in this post about Grace is also the way in which it leads us to interact with others.  A Grace lifestyle doesn't put us in a place of judgement toward others and their behaviors.  Grace lets us know we need only to be concerned with ourselves and trust God is working out Grace in the lives of those we interact with, just as we are hopeful they are trusting God to do the same with us.  Certainly we are called to hold each other to higher standards and we can do that without passing judgement.  Really we can!  So perhaps together we can begin to swing back toward God's instructions (whether we "like" them or not) and begin showing others what the clarity of Grace brings.

Fester Fester Rot Rot

A few weeks ago I made a mistake that I've made before.  I was working with raw chicken (stick with me on this okay?) and threw away what I didn't want in our trash can.  Over the course of the day I and my family threw other trash away on top of the raw chicken and I kind of forgot about it.  Fast forward 2 days later I arrived home and was hit with this stench wall of rotting chicken.  Oops.  The stench made me gag and I quickly removed the bag to the garage where it wouldn't stink up our home.  But the stench stayed behind for about a day.  Ugh.  I've done it before and each time I do I think to myself, "I have learned my lesson, I won't do this again" but I do.  I throw away some raw meat and it sits and festers until it rots.  And until it rots I forget about it, I neglect to take care of it.  But once the stench of the rot reaches me I am quick to dispose of it.

Some of you know this and others don't.  I'm a lay counselor.  And I've been in counseling.  And in my own personal experiences and hearing the experiences of others I have come to the conclusion that we all have some "fester fester rot rot" going on in our lives and our hearts.  We all have something (usually more than one thing actually) that we've discarded, or so we thought, and have thrown other things on top of it.  So the thing we needed to get rid of gets buried where it begins to fester.  And we don't pay much attention to it until the stench of its rot finally reaches our awareness.  At that point we either take care of it or we continue to rot and become a stench to anyone we come into contact with.  We are so quick to dispose of the actual rot and stench of something like meat but we tend to drag our feet when it comes to getting rid of the heart rot we have. The longer we let the rot sit the harder it's going to be to get the stench of it removed.  And the more pervasive the rot will be in our lives and relationships.

Each time I begin to stink and the stench of my heart rot reaches the surface of my life and touches my relationships I take the steps I need to take to get it taken care of and say to myself, "I have learned my lesson, I won't do this again" but I do.  I do it again.  Sometimes with the same issue that caused the rot, sometimes with a different issue.  But I let the rot get covered up by the day in and day out of life and I forget about it until its stench covers me.  And it's my own fault every time.  I'm aware of myself enough (I'm a counselor remember?  We are in tune even if we don't respond to the nudges) to know when rot is there that needs to be taken care of.  Why do I continue to allow myself to be deceived that "later" will be a "better" time to take care of it?  There's no time like the present is totally applicable in this instance!  Now is the time.

No this is not a commercial placed by my blog.  

It's a commercial placed by me for the purpose of this blog!  

It's a lead-in, an intro to my next point.  :) 

Here's one final (for this blog post at least) thing about heart rot that we need to know.  Just because we shoot some "Febreze" (i.e. surface fixes) all over the stench doesn't mean the rot is removed or even taken care of.  (Did you watch the video I put in?  The smell is masked but the trash is still there.  Just sayin'.) Surface fixes are short-term, temporary fixes.  In other words THEY DON'T WORK.  In order to remove the rot we have to engage in the heart, er hard, work of removing the rot.  For some this means addresses hurts from many years ago, addressing people that have contributed to the rot, taking personal responsibility for the growth of the rot, doing some honest self-evaluation, being vulnerable and transparent with others who can help (heck, asking for help!), and more.  The rot doesn't just go away on its own, we have to put the sweat equity in and own it to remove it.

How about you?  Got any fester fester rot rot going on?  (Don't say no, I will call you a liar - we all have something in us festering and rotting.)  Consider taking care of it while it's festering before it starts rotting. The festering process gives us the chance to take action.  Don't let your heart become a stench to you and others.  

Mini-Cuke's and SCC

Recently when I shared with someone who doesn't know me very well a few of my likes (mini-cucumbers, Steven Curtis Chapman - who I affectionately refer to as SCC) the response I got was something like this:

Accompanying that response was the emphatic exclamation, "Oh no!" (and while you might be tempted to think I am exaggerating let me assure you...I am not!  Imagine my surprise at this reaction to such non-controversial things.)

REALLY?   

Are we really so self-absorbed that we can't appreciate that others like different music, food, drinks, TV shows, books, movies, etc than we do?  

Are we really so self-absorbed that we can't be okay that people might not dig the same people and things that we do?  

Are we really so self-absorbed that we must put-down, criticize, comment, devalue, diminish what someone else likes that differs from our likes?  

Are we really?  

Well as it turns out.  

Yes, yes we are.  

The response I got took me by surprise and I had to bite my tongue from winging back a stinging retort. And the look on this person's face - one of true distaste - stopped me in my tracks.  

I felt, for a moment, devalued and diminished for liking things that were different than this person's.  

But then I got a grip.  

I started examining my responses to people when they tell me they like Haggis and Merle Haggard.  Perhaps I have communicated non-verbally, as this particular person did to me, the same thing: if you don't like what I like then you hold less value.  OUCH.  

My friends, actions (to include non-verbal communication) speak much louder than words.  Would this person actually say they don't value me because I like mini-cukes and SCC?  No.  In fact, they would probably be offended that I would suggest such a thing. BUT.  But their non-verbal response communicated that I do hold less value just because I happen to love crunching on some mini's while bee-bopping to SCC.  

So I'm thinking about the next time a person shares with me that they like Haggis and Merle Haggard.  While those things aren't my cup of tea it's okay that someone does like them.  So may my non-verbal response look a little like this:

Accompanied by a "Good for you!" 

I have a feeling if that is my response the person will feel okay about being different than me.  

And you know what?

That's REALLY okay.